Journal of Ecology 2008, 96, 698–702
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2745.2008.01384.x
No. 3
Resource partitioning for soil phosphorus: a hypothesis
Benjamin L. Turner*
Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Apartado 0843-03092, Balboa, Ancón, Republic of Panama
Summary
1. Organic phosphorus is abundant in soil and its turnover can supply a considerable fraction of the
phosphorus taken up by natural vegetation. Despite this, the ecological significance of organic
phosphorus remains poorly understood, which is remarkable given the biological importance of
phosphorus in terrestrial environments.
2. Of particular interest is the possibility that coexisting plant species partition soil organic
phosphorus to reduce competition. This seems likely given the large number of biologically
available phosphorus compounds that occur in soil and the variety of mechanisms by which plants
can utilize them.
3. Here I propose a conceptual model of resource partitioning for soil phosphorus. The model
describes a hypothetical example of four coexisting plant species that differ in their ability to access
soil organic phosphorus compounds, which are grouped to form a gradient of biological availability
based on the processes involved in their utilization by plants.
4. Synthesis: Resource partitioning for soil phosphorus could provide an additional mechanism to
explain the coexistence and distribution of plant species. It is likely to occur widely in terrestrial
environments, but should have greatest ecological significance wherever productivity is limited by
the availability of soil phosphorus. This includes freshwater wetlands, super-humid temperate
regions and ecosystems developed on strongly-weathered soils that cover vast areas of ancient
landscapes in Africa, Australia and South America.
Key-words: arbuscular mycorrhiza, ectomycorrhiza, ericoid mycorrhiza, inositol phosphates,
phosphatase, phosphate diesters, phosphate monoesters, phytase, plant nutrition, resource
partitioning, soil organic phosphorus
Studies of plant nutrition often consider only inorganic
phosphate to be biologically available, yet organic phosphorus
is abundant in soils (typically between 30% and 65%, but
sometimes > 90%, of the total soil phosphorus; Harrison 1987)
and its turnover can account for the majority of the phosphorus
taken up by natural vegetation (e.g. Cole et al. 1977; Attiwill
& Adams 1993). In fact, only a small fraction of the soil
organic phosphorus need be hydrolyzed to provide a substantial proportion of the annual phosphorus requirement of
plants (Harrison 1987). Despite this, ecological aspects of
organic phosphorus acquisition have received little explicit
attention, which is surprising given the extent to which
phosphorus availability limits or co-limits primary productivity
in terrestrial environments (Elser et al. 2007).
Of particular interest is the possibility of resource partitioning
for soil phosphorus; in other words, that coexisting plants use
*Correspondence author. E-mail: turnerbl@si.edu
different forms of soil phosphorus to minimize competition.
Such a phenomenon has been demonstrated for soil nitrogen
in an arctic tundra community (McKane et al. 2002), in which
the most productive plants use the most abundant forms of
nitrogen, while less productive plants use less abundant
forms. The same process also seems to occur for nitrogen in
some (Weigelt et al. 2005; Kahmen et al. 2006), but not all
(Harrison et al. 2007), temperate grasslands.
Resource partitioning for phosphorus seems likely to occur
for two reasons. First, soil phosphorus exists in a range of
inorganic and organic compounds that differ markedly in
their biological availability in the soil environment (Condron
et al. 2005). For example, the organic phosphorus in most
soils is dominated by a mixture of phosphate monoesters (e.g.
mononucleotides, inositol phosphates) and phosphate diesters
(mainly nucleic acids and phospholipids), with smaller
amounts of phosphonates (compounds with a direct carbon–
phosphorus bond) and organic polyphosphates (e.g. adenosine
triphosphate).
Journal compilation © 2008 British Ecological Society. No claim to original US government works
Resource partitioning for phosphorus
Second, plants can manipulate their acquisition of
phosphorus from organic compounds through a variety
of mechanisms, which in some cases allows them to utilize
organic phosphorus as efficiently as inorganic phosphate
(Tarafdar & Claassen 1988; Adams & Pate 1992). These
include the synthesis of phosphatase enzymes, secretion of
organic anions, formation of proteoid roots and symbiotic
association with mycorrhizal fungi (Richardson et al. 2005b).
Of particular significance is the synthesis of extracellular
phosphatase enzymes, which catalyze the release of inorganic
phosphate from phosphate esters – a key step in the utilization
of soil organic phosphorus. This ubiquitous response of
higher plants, bryophytes and algae to phosphorus stress
provides a clear indication of the importance of organic
phosphorus in the nutrition of natural vegetation (Duff et al.
1994; Whitton et al. 2005).
Mycorrhizal fungi also synthesize phosphatase enzymes
and are therefore likely to be involved in the acquisition of
organic phosphorus by plants. Of the main mycorrhizal
groups, the ectomycorrhizas are well-known to access
phosphate esters, including the inositol phosphates (Antibus
et al. 1992), while ericoid mycorrhizas can efficiently utilize
phosphate diesters (Leake & Miles 1996), which tend to be
abundant in soils supporting ericaceous plants (Turner et al.
2004). Arbuscular mycorrhizas, which form associations
with the majority of terrestrial plant species, have been widely
assumed to utilize only inorganic phosphate (Smith & Read,
1997). However, it is now clear that they can also use organic
phosphorus, including inositol phosphates, as a sole source
of phosphorus (Joner et al. 2000; Koide & Kabir 2000).
Presumably there are also considerable differences in the
ability of species within each of the major mycorrhizal groups
to use the various forms of soil organic phosphorus (e.g.
Antibus et al. 1992). If so, this could contribute to phosphorus
partitioning and might be an additional factor by which
mycorrhizal diversity influences plant diversity (van der
Heijden et al. 1998). Mycorrhizas are therefore likely to play a
central role in phosphorus partitioning by plants. It should be
noted, however, that proteoid-root forming species adapted to
infertile soils do not usually associate with mycorrhizas
(Lambers et al. 2008), yet they synthesize phosphatase enzymes
and appear able to readily exploit soil organic phosphorus
(Adams & Pate 1992; Watts & Evans 1999).
A conceptual model of how resource partitioning for soil
phosphorus could occur is shown in Fig. 1. It describes a
hypothetical example of four coexisting plant species that
differ in their ability to access soil organic phosphorus
compounds, which are grouped by the processes involved in
their utilization by plants and/or their mycorrhizal symbionts.
In other words, the groups of phosphorus compounds
constitute a gradient of biological availability based on the
investment that must be made to access the phosphate ion.
Species A uses mainly inorganic phosphate dissolved in
soil solution, the most biologically available form of soil
phosphorus. Like most plants, it can also access some simple
phosphate monoesters (see below). Dissolved phosphate is
the form of phosphorus taken up directly by plants, so it must
699
be released from all organic phosphorus compounds prior to
uptake. In most natural ecosystems the concentration of free
phosphate in solution is vanishingly small, but its turnover
rate can be rapid.
Species B competes with Species A for dissolved phosphate,
but is best-adapted to access simple phosphate monoesters.
These compounds are abundant in soil and are the most
available form of organic phosphorus, being weakly sorbed
and requiring only hydrolysis by phosphomonoesterase, a
common plant enzyme, to release phosphate for plant uptake
(Condron et al. 2005). Species B can also use phosphate
diesters through the synthesis of phosphodiesterase enzymes,
but cannot utilize the inositol phosphates, which require a
specialized enzyme (see below).
Species C can acquire phosphate from a range of organic
phosphate esters, but specializes in the use of phosphate
diesters, including nucleic acids and phospholipids. These
compounds are abundant in biological tissue and therefore
constitute most of the organic phosphorus inputs to soils,
although they tend to degrade rapidly and do not usually
accumulate (Bowman & Cole 1978). Despite this, they are less
available than simple phosphate monoesters because they
must be hydrolyzed by a series of phosphatase enzymes,
including phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase, to
release phosphate for plant uptake. Because Species C synthesizes both these enzymes, it can also utilize simple phosphate
monoesters and, to a limited extent, the inositol phosphates.
Species D uses the least biologically available group of
soil organic phosphorus compounds – the inositol phosphates.
These constitute only a small fraction of the organic
phosphorus input to soils, occurring mainly in plant seeds,
but they are stabilized strongly through sorption and
precipitation reactions and often accumulate to form a
considerable fraction of the soil organic phosphorus
(Turner 2007). Species D specializes in the acquisition of
these refractory organic phosphates, probably through
the synthesis of a combination of phytase enzymes (phosphatases that catalyze the release of phosphate from
myo-inositol hexakisphosphate) and a solubilizing agent such
as an organic acid to release inositol phosphates from binding
sites. The secretion of organic acids is often assumed to
release only inorganic phosphate, although they also solubilize organic phosphorus (Hayes et al. 2000) and appear to be
of key importance in the utilization of inositol phosphates by
plants (George et al. 2004). Note that Species C and D can
also use dissolved phosphate (not indicated on the figure),
although this probably makes only a small contribution to
their phosphorus nutrition in environments where these
species are abundant.
The model includes four groups of common phosphorus
compounds, but other inorganic and organic phosphorus
compounds also occur in soils and are biologically available.
Of particular significance is that inorganic phosphate occurs
in a range of relatively stable chemical forms in soil (e.g.
primary mineral phosphate, metal precipitates, sorbed to the
surfaces of metal oxides, occluded within mineral matrices,
etc.). These are often considered to be of limited biological
Journal compilation © 2008 British Ecological Society. No claim to original US government works, Journal of Ecology, 96, 698–702
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B. L. Turner
Fig. 1. A conceptual model of resource partitioning for phosphorus. The model contains four plant species with differing degrees of adaptation
to accessing four groups of soil phosphorus compounds (a representative compound is demonstrated in each case) with differing degrees of
biological availability. Species A uses mainly dissolved inorganic phosphate from soil solution, the most readily available form of phosphorus,
and can also access some simple phosphate monoesters through phosphomonoesterase enzymes. Species B competes with Species A for
dissolved phosphate, but is best-adapted to accessing simple phosphate monoesters. It can also use phosphate diesters through
phosphodiesterase enzymes, but cannot utilize the inositol phosphates. Species C specializes in the acquisition of a range of organic phosphate
esters; it mainly uses phosphate diesters, but can also use simple phosphate monoesters and inositol phosphates through phytase enzymes.
Species D specializes in the acquisition of refractory organic phosphate in the form of inositol phosphates; these compounds are stabilized
strongly by association with clays and metal oxides, so it is likely that Species D can synthesize phytase enzymes as well as organic anions that
can solubilize inositol phosphates from binding sites. Species C and D can also use dissolved phosphate (not indicated), although this is likely
to make only a small contribution to their nutrition. Note that the acquisition of phosphorus by the four species described above could be direct
via roots or, more likely, indirect through association with mycorrhizal fungi.
a
Simple phosphate monoesters include adenosine monophosphate and other mononucleotides, sugar phosphates (including the one shown) and
the breakdown products of phospholipids (e.g. choline phosphate). Note that phosphomonoesterase enzymes also catalyze the hydrolysis of
condensed inorganic and organic phosphates, including adenosine di- and triphosphates, pyrophosphate and long-chain polyphosphate.
b
Phosphate diesters, which include the nucleic acids (DNA, RNA), phospholipids (including the one shown), and some cyclic phosphates (e.g.
cyclic adenosine monophosphate), are the major group of organic phosphorus added to soils in natural ecosystems.
c
The inositol phosphates accumulate in soils mainly as penta- and hexakisphosphate esters and include myo-inositol hexakisphosphate (also
known as phytic acid or phytate) as well as a series of stereoisomeric forms (scyllo, d-chiro, neo) that are extremely rare elsewhere in nature
(Turner 2007).
availability, but there is evidence that some plants can deplete
stable forms of inorganic phosphate as readily as more soluble
forms (Gahoonia & Nielsen 1992). In particular, species
that form proteoid roots (e.g. the Proteaceae) can solubilize
sparingly soluble phosphate minerals through the secretion
of organic acids, which allows them to grow on extremely
infertile soils (Watts & Evans 1999). Inclusion of stable
inorganic phosphates in the model would therefore increase
the potential for resource partitioning by adding further
niches for specialized plants.
Resource partitioning for soil phosphorus is likely to occur
widely, but should have greatest ecological significance
wherever primary productivity is limited or co-limited by
phosphorus availability. Evidence from fertilization experiments
indicates that co-limitation by phosphorus and nitrogen is
widespread in terrestrial ecosystems (Elser et al. 2007), while
phosphorus limitation is expected in freshwater wetlands,
super-humid temperate regions (e.g. in Chile, New Zealand,
etc.) and ecosystems developed on strongly weathered soils
that cover vast areas of ancient landscapes in Africa,
Journal compilation © 2008 British Ecological Society. No claim to original US government works, Journal of Ecology, 96, 698–702
Resource partitioning for phosphorus
Australia and South America (Richardson et al. 2004;
Wardle et al. 2004; Wassen et al. 2005; Lambers et al. 2008).
These areas are of considerable global extent and many are
botanically diverse – for example, lowland tropical rainforests
growing on strongly weathered soils contain large numbers of
plant species coexisting in apparently similar environmental
niches (Wright 2002).
The model could also explain in part the distribution of
plants across gradients of phosphorus availability. In
a relatively phosphorus-rich soil with abundant dissolved
phosphate Species A would be expected to dominate, whereas
in a low-phosphorus soil in which the turnover of organic
phosphorus is of key importance for plant nutrition Species
D would be most abundant. Phosphorus gradients occur
naturally along soil chronosequences, in which the gradual
loss of phosphorus during pedogenesis leads to a long-term
decline in phosphorus availability (Walker & Syers 1976).
For example, along the Franz Josef chronosequence in New
Zealand, increasing phosphorus limitation as soils age causes
a shift in the composition of the plant community, from
dominance by angiosperms on younger soils towards conifers
of the Podocarpaceae on old soils where productivity is
limited strongly by phosphorus availability (Richardson
et al. 2004). This coincides with changes in the soil organic
phosphorus composition, including a marked decline in the
concentration of inositol phosphates in older soils (Turner
et al. 2007). Although podocarps possess a variety of features
that allow them to compete effectively under nutrient-poor
conditions (Richardson et al. 2005a), an additional factor
may therefore be that they are efficient at acquiring phosphorus
from refractory soil organic phosphorus compounds.
The model may also have significance for understanding
the response of plant communities to perturbation in nutrient
availability. The enrichment of a soil with phosphorus, for
example by runoff from agricultural land, would be expected
to shift the plant community towards species that are adapted
to using dissolved inorganic phosphate (Species A). In contrast,
a decline in phosphorus availability, such as following atmospheric nitrogen deposition, would be expected to shift the
plant community towards species that can utilize refractory
forms of soil organic phosphorus (Species D). High rates of
nitrogen deposition cause a marked increase in the phosphatase activity of plants and microbes (Johnson et al. 1999;
Turner et al. 2001), a clear sign of phosphorus stress and an
increase in the demand for phosphorus from organic compounds. This ultimately leads to a switch from nitrogen to
phosphorus limitation and a shift in plant community
composition (Bobbink et al. 1998), although the emphasis has
often been on nitrogen-related mechanisms (e.g. Fenn et al.
2003) rather than the enhancement of phosphorus limitation as
a causative factor driving such changes (Wassen et al. 2005).
In summary, the variety of phosphorus compounds that
occur in soil, coupled with the range of adaptations by which
plants can manipulate their access to such compounds,
suggests that coexisting plants partition soil phosphorus to
minimize competition. This could provide an additional
mechanism to explain the abundance and distribution of
701
plants in the environment and is likely to have particular
ecological significance wherever productivity is limited or
co-limited by the availability of soil phosphorus.
Acknowledgements
I thank Richard Bardgett, Allen Herre, Hans Lambers, Edmund Tanner, Brian
Whitton and an anonymous referee for critical comments on the manuscript.
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Received 11 November 2007; accepted 14 March2008
Handling Editor: Rien Aerts
Journal compilation © 2008 British Ecological Society. No claim to original US government works, Journal of Ecology, 96, 698–702